2. Where can I find your book?
3. I’ve read your book. But I still have some questions. Can you help me?
4. How much do you charge for a consultation?
5. What kind of advice do you give?
6. I am a student. I hate homework. It’s ruining my life. Will you help me?
9. Do you have a sample letter I can send to a teacher?
10. Do you know of any parents who have been successful in challenging homework?
11. Do you know of any schools that have abolished homework?
12. Do you know how principals have explained their decisions to abolish or greatly reduce homework?
13. Do you know of any podcasts I can listen to?
15. Are you willing to come to my school/parent meeting/teacher meeting/conference to speak?
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Your first step should be to buy a copy of The Case Against Homework: How Homework Is Hurting Our Children and What We Can Do About It. The first half of the book lays out, in a readable fashion, the problems with homework. The second half of the book is a step-by-step manual on how to go about advocating for change with your child’s teacher, at your school, or in your District, and how to organize other parents. There’s also a chapter that looks at the most common homework assignments and tells you why they don’t have any educational value. (Be forewarned: after you read the book, you’ll be angrier than you already are.)
2. Where can I find your book?
If you can’t find it in your local bookstore, you should order it from your favorite online source. Of course, you can always buy it on Amazon.
But, as a way of spreading the word, you should ask your local bookstore to order a few copies, and then ask it to prominently display them.
3. I’ve read your book. But I still have some questions. Can you help me?
I would be delighted to help you. Email me and we can set a time to talk.
4. How much do you charge for a consultation?
Nothing. Stop Homework is supported by a grant from a private foundation. Contributions are gladly accepted (and needed) and are fully tax deductible. Please make your check payable to “Stop Homework/Alliance for Childhood,” and send it to:
Stop Homework/Alliance for Childhood
P.O. Box 444
College Park, MD 20741
5. What kind of advice do you give?
I will help you figure out the best way to address your particular situation. These are the kinds of things I can do:
- * help you figure out exactly what the problem is and help you prepare a strategy for tackling it
* edit drafts of letters to teachers, administrators, School Board members, local newspapers, speeches for meetings, etc.
* provide resources that cannot be found in the book
* help you find people in your community who are interested in working with you
6. I am a student. I hate homework. It’s ruining my life. Will you help me?
Of course. Let me know what you need.
You can also take a look at what high school student, Alexandra Keehan is doing in her Indiana school and contact her as well. Or, take a look at this zine by three high school students, “A Students’ Guide to Taking Back the Classroom”. Copy and distribute it at your school.
Absolutely. These are the kinds of things I can do:
- * provide resources that cannot be found in the book
* put you in touch with other people in similar positions to you who have changed, or are changing, homework policy
* help you draft (or edit) a letter to your constituency explaining your policy
* speak to your staff
Yes. Take a look at this and this and this.
9. Do you have a sample letter I can send to a teacher?
The book has dozens. If you don’t find what you’re looking for in the book, take a look at this letter, which was written by a New Jersey parent to her second-grade son’s teacher and principal, or take a look at the numerous letters I’ve posted by parent activists. You can find them by scrolling through Moms (and Dads) on a Mission.
10. Do you know of any parents who have been successful in challenging homework?
Yes. In The Case Against Homework, there are many examples of parents advocating on behalf of their children. And, if you browse Moms (and Dads) on a Mission you’ll find lots of posts by parents who describe, in their own words, what they’re doing and whether they’re having any success.
11. Do you know of any schools that have abolished homework?
Sadly, there aren’t nearly as many as I’d like.
But if you need an example or two, take a look at what this school in Wyoming and these schools in the San Francisco Bay area have done.
In Toronto, Canada, the Toronto District School Board completely overhauled its homework policy. Read the most family friendly policy I’ve seen yet here. Frank Bruni, the parent who instigated the reform, blogged about his experiences on stophomework.com. To see what other parents have done, or are doing, be sure to take a look at Moms (and Dads) on a Mission.
In England, the teacher’s union debated a motion to abolish or greatly reduce homework in April, 2008. In the Fall of 2008, a highly ranked boys’ school near London and England’s newest and largest school either reduced homework or vowed not to have it.
A newly opened school in Australia has included an opt-out clause, which states, “In recognition of other demands on our students, we support individual students, with parent support, formally ‘opting out’ of the set homework.”
12. Do you know how principals have explained their decisions to abolish or greatly reduce homework?
Yes. Here’s a copy of a letter a principal in Wyoming sent to the parents at her elementary school.
13. Do you know of any podcasts I can listen to?
Yes. At BAM! radio, you can find lots of interesting interviews.
I also recommend getting a copy of the DVD of the Fall, 2008, Stressed Out Students’ conference, with keynote speeches by David Elkind, Dr. Ken Ginsburg, Dr. Madeline Levine, and Denise Clark Pope. You can order a copy of the DVD for $4.00 here.
I would definitely have them read the fact sheet on pages 259-260 of The Case Against Homework.
I would pick and choose from the following:
- *this article from The Washington Post, where education reporter, Jay Mathews, who had given himself the moniker “Mr. Homework,” calls for the abolition of homework in elementary school
* this article from The Wall Street Journal, this piece from the National Association of Independent Schools, or this article from Encounter: Education for Meaning and Social Justice (Homework Issue), on the stresses facing high schoolers
*this article on redesigning homework to create more time for learning from Encounter: Education for Meaning and Social Justice (Homework Issue)
* this information on the importance of sleep
* this information on the importance of play
* this information on how math homework doesn’t help the average student
* this information on what works in an English class
* this information on the the trouble with packaged reading programs
15. Are you willing to come to my school/parent meeting/teacher meeting/conference to speak?
Yes.
That depends on where you are located and the finances of your organization. Feel free to contact me.
